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THE SUBSTANCE 
OF 

SERMON 

ON THE 

€5 O 3D HE AID OF CHRIST, 

Preached at Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, on the 26th 
day of December, 1784, before the 

GENERAL CONFERENCE 

OF THE 

THODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 

BY THOMAS COKE, L. L. D. 

SUPERINTEND ANT OF THE SAID CHURCH. 

Published at the desire of the Conference, 




New-York : 

PUBLISHED BY D f HITT AND T. WARE, FOR THE 
METHODIST CONNEXION IN THE U. STATES, 

J. C Totten, printer. 
1815* 




Q Co 



A SERMON* 



The Word was God. John i. 1. 

It is a ground of lamentation to every liberal and 
devout mind, that the Christian world has been 
ever running to extremes ; that of infidelity on the 
one hand, and that of gross superstition on the other. 
The three first centuries are, (I believe universally) 
acknowledged by the pious and learned, to have 
been the purest ages of Christianity. No sooner 
did Constantine the Great ascend the throne of the 
empire, and profess himself a Christian, but his re- 
ligion became the established one of the empire. 
And ndtf, the pernicious influence of that bane of 
truth and holiness, a national church, began to per- 
vade the Christian world. Now the overseers of 
the flock of the humble Jesus, were raised above 
the princes of the earth. And now the great, and 
the rich, and the wise after the flesh, to whom 
Christ crucified was foolishness, pressed into the 
visible Church, which they treated as a mere Le- 
viathan, (as Mr. Hobbes is pleased to call it) to 
frighten the vulgar, the mere tool and stalking- 
horse of sinister and ambitious men. The natural 
consequence of this was infidelity in all its various 
shapes. The religion of Jesus must be turned ani 



A SERMON ON 



twisted to coincide with the platonic philosophy, 
the favourite system of the age, and it soon became 
a common but melancholy proverb, Athanasius con- 
tra ymmduni, Athanasius against the world. 

That great defender of the divinity of our Lord, 
had the whole stream of the Christian world to cope 
with. 

Again, when the tables were turned, and the vast 
armies of Goths and Vandals over-ran the whole 
Roman empire, and ignorance covered the face of 
the earth, superstition, with all her horrid attend- 
ants, unveiled her face, and rose by degrees to so 
enormous a height, that the deluded world was 
even prevailed on to believe, — that they could put 
their God into their mouths, and swallow him down- 
their throats. 

For several centuries past, the Christian world 
has been emerging out of darkness, and all the arts 
and sciences are rising to perfection by hasty steps* 
But through the abuse of that knowledge, zvhich too 
generally puffeth up, infidelity again rears up her 
head. O that she may never prevail in these rising 
empires, but the simple truths of scripture be hand- 
ed down in all their native unsullied purity to the 
latest generations. 

The increase of Arianism and Socinianism 
throughout Christendom, is so manifest to every 
close observer, that it calls for the greatest exer- 
Tions from the true lovers of the Lord Jesus, to stop 
the growing plague. If this attempt may in any 
%"ise contribute towards it, an abundant compensa- 
tion will be made for this labour of love* 



THE GODHEAD OF CHRIST. 



The first step in every candid dispute is to con 
t;ede to the adversary, every thing the truth enables 
him to claim. The grand argument of our oppo- 
nents, drawn from reason, is this : " No man is obli- 
ged to believe what he cannot comprehend." This 
we allow. " Then you give up all the mysteries oi 
the Christian doctrine." By no means ; for the in- 
comprehensibility of the mystery lies not in the 
reality or truth of the thing, but in the mode of its 
existence. And is not all nature full of mystery ' 
If we drive you to first principles, you will in every 
thing be at a loss. 

Can you explain how the grass grows, or the sun 
shines ? Can you unfold to us the nature of that union 
which subsists between matter and spirit ? Can you 
discover how the small superfices of the optic nerve 
displays to the mind the whole hemisphere at once ? 
Yea, can you account for the smallest motion of 
the smallest members of your body 1 And if earth- 
ly things be so full of mystery, how much more 
must heavenly ? If the mode of the existence oi 
things, the evidences of the reality whereof are in* 
lerwoven in our very being, is so far beyond the 
reach of human understanding 5 how much more 
the nature of God and the mode of his existence ? 

But reason may comprehend that God is eternal 
truth, and therefore that any revelation proceed- 
ing from him must be infallibly true. Reason may 
comprehend the force of those arguments which 
arise from the accomplishment of prophecies, pre- 
served by the greatest enemies of Christianity (the 

a 2 



6 



A SERMON OIST 



Jews) and acknowledged even by them to have 
been written at the times specified by the friends of 
our religion ; from the testimony of the apostles for 
the miracles of Jesus ; matters of fact in which they 
could not be deceived, and the truth- of which they 
sealed with their blood, and could therefore be in- 
fluenced by no sinister motive : reason, in short, 
may comprehend the ten thousand arguments which 
may be and have been adduced for the authenticity 
of the scriptures. All this is level to the human 
understanding, and within the reach of human rea- 
son. I am speaking now of the external evidences 
of the Christian revelation, and not of the conver- 
sion of the soul, which I am deeply conscious, orig- 
inates with the Spirit of God alone. But these evi- 
dences being supposed sufficient, and consequently 
the Bible the word, of God, it then follows of neces- 
sity,— that the reality of every mystery in the Bible 
is level to the human understanding 5 and the point 
on which our credit is to be placed, is the reality of 
the thing, and not the mode of its existence in which 
alone the mystery lies.* Here therefore we join 
issue, and appeal to the infallible word of God as 
the proper test of the doctrine under consideration. 
And from this I hope to prove that the Lord Jesus 
Christ, the Word that was made flesh, John i. 14. is 
God in the fullest and highest sense. 

To this end, we may first observe the several in- 
stances that represent our Lord as a most extraor- 

*' See Mr. Wesley's Sermon on the Trinity. 



THE GODHEAD OF CHRIST. 7 



dinary personage ; and secondly, the more pointed 
proofs of his supreme divinity. 

Under the first of these heads, we may consider, 
First, The many signs and presages of our Saviour- 
becoming; and Secondly, The many evidences of 
his really being a very extraordinary personage. 

First, We find in the sacred writings many re- 
markable signs and presages of our Saviour's be* 
coming a very extraordinary personage. Such was 
the salutation of the blessed virgin, by the angel 
Gabriel ; his wonderful, miraculous conception by 
the Holy Ghost ; the interview between Mary and 
Elizabeth, when the child leaped in Elizabeths 
womb ; the appearance of the heavenly host to the 
shepherds, and the praises they sung at the publica- 
tion of his birth ; the journey of the wise men from 
the east to Bethlehem, and the star's going before 
them till it came and stood over where the young 
child was ; as also Simeon and Annans prophecies 
concerning him, when he was presented in the tem- 
ple. 

Secondly, The sacred writings afford us an abun- 
dance of evidences of our blessed Saviour's really 
being, when he appeared amongst mankind, what 
all these bespoke him to be. His conversation 
with the doctors in the temple, when he was but 
twelve years of age : his fasting forty days and for- 
ty nights : his various trials and conflicts with Sa- 
tan, and conquest over him : his pure and heavenly 
doctrines : his various miracles, such as the turn- 
ing water into wine : his healing the sick of their 



8 A SERMON ON 

diseases, and some of them of very long continu- 
ance, at a word ; restoring sight to the blind, though 
born so : walking on the sea : curing demoniacs or 
persons possessed with devils : feeding four thou*' 
sand people with seven loaves, nay? five thousand 
with five loaves : purging the temple with the whip 
of cords: discoverino; the secret thoughts : raising; 
the dead to life : all these certainly proved him a 
very extraordinary personage. 

The same was likewise evidenced by his prophe- 
cies, as. by whom h? was to be betrayed : That 
his disciples would forsake him : Peter would deny 
him : that he should suffer and be killed by the 
chief priests and elders, and rise the third day and 
ascend into heaven : that the Jewish nation would 
be rejected and the Gentiles called : that the Chris- 
tians should pass through various persecutions : 
that after grievous preceding calamities, both the 
temple and Jerusalem itself should be destroyed: 
all these prophecies receiving their exact and com- 
plete accomplishment, evidenced him one of the 
greatest of prophets that had ever appeared in the 
world. 

We might add a vast variety of other proofs that 
our Saviour was a most extraordinary personage. 
To instance a few : the beautiful testimony of John 
the Baptist concerning him : the voice from heav- 
en at his baptism and transfiguration on the mount : 
the acknowledgment of the very devils : the mira- 
cles which were wrought by the use of his name : 
the officers and men falling to the ground in the gar- 



THE GODHEAD OF CHRIST. 



3 



den at his saying, " I am he." The dream of Pi- 
letters wife, and the advice she sent thereupon to 
her husband ; the wonderful circumstances attend- 
ing his death ; the extraordinary darkness ; the 
dreadful earthquake which rent the rocks and open- 
ed the graves, and the resurrection of many saints 
from the dead, who appeared to many in Jerusa- 
lem. All these were so many wonderful proofs of 
a person of extraordinary rank and distinction. 

So far as this the Socinians will go, and no far- 
ther. The Jlrians will allow all this and much 
more. They will grant that our Saviour existed 
before all worlds : but they will not allow that he is 
the Most. High God, equal with the Father in glory 
and eternity. 

Let us therefore proceed, in the second place, to 
examine the scripture account of this important 
point, from whence I trust we shall be able to prove 
that our Saviour is God in the highest and most ab- 
solute sense of the word. 

And, first, we may argue indirectly, from plain 
consequences drawn from various texts. 

Secondly, We may argue directly from such 
texts, where our Saviour is expressly called God, or 
Jehovah, or Lord of Hosts : as also, from such texts 
where such titles are adjoined to the word God, 
when applied to our Saviour, as do restrain it to its 
highest and most proper signification. 

First, we are to prove that the Lord Jesus Christ 
is supreme God from plain consequences drawn 
from various text- : a^. where he is said to be i; in 



10 



A SERMON ON 



the form of God. and equal with God." Phil. ii. 6. 

" To have all the fulness of the Godhead dwelling 
in him bodily." Col. ii. 9. " To be the brightness 
of his Father's glory, and the express image of his 
person." Heb. i. 3. 

But. to be more regular. What are the springs 
from whence all our notions and ideas of the Most 
High God proceed I I apprehend they all originate 
in his attributes, the inward and outward honours 
which are paid to him, and the operations of his 
hands. Let us then consider our Saviour in this 
threefold view, in each of which the scripture 
speaks of him in the highest and strongest terms. 

First, In respect to the incommunicable attri- 
butes of the supreme God. 

First, eternity. Secondly, omnipotence. Third- 
ly, omniscience. Fourthly, omnipresence. Fifth- 
ly, immutability. 

First, eternity. In the prophecy of Micah. in 
the fifth chapter and the second verse, we read. 
;< Thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little 
among the thousands of Judah. yet oat of thee shall 
he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel ; 
whose goings forth have been from of old, from ev- 
erlasting," And in Rev. i. 8. compared with the 
11th and 17th verses. " I am Alpha and Omega, the 
beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, who is, 
and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty." 
And again, u I am Alpha and Omega, the first 
and the last/' And again, ; * I am the first and the 
last. I am he that liveth and was dead." And in 



THE GODHEAD OF CHRIST. 



the xxii. chapter and the 13th verse, " I am Alpha 
and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first 
and the last," which words were spoken by him, 
who in the 16th verse, says, "I Jesus have sent 
mine angel." Now these are the common phrases 
which the scriptures use when they would set forth 
the eternity of God. 

Secondly. Omnipotence. Rev. i. 8, " Who is, 
and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty." 
And Phil. iii. 21. " He is able even to subdue all 
things to himself." 

Thirdly. Omniscience. Thus we read in St. 
John ii. 24, 25. " He knew all men. He knew 
what was in man." And John xxi. 17. St. Peter 
tells our Lord, " Lord, thou knowest all things, thou 
knowest that I love thee." And in John xvi. 30, 
the disciples say to him, " Now are we sure that 
thou knowest all things." Our Lord, undoubted- 
ly, if he was not Supreme God, or was not an im- 
postor, would never have suffered them to ascribe 
to him one of the incommunicable attributes of the 
Most High, without reproof or rectifying at least 
their mistake. 

Fourthly. Omnipresence. This our Lord as- 
cribes to himself in the most express terms. As for 
instance, in Matt, xviii. 20. " Where two or three 
are gathered together in my name, there am I in the 
midst of them." And in Matt, xxviii. 20. " Lo ! 
I am with you alway, even unto the end of the 
world." 

Fifthly. Immutability. Heb. xiii. 8. " Jesus 



12 



A SERMON 



Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." 
And Heb. i. 10. 12. " Unto the Son he saith. 
The heavens and the earth they shall perish, but 
thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail." 

Secondly. As the incommunicable attributes of 
the Most High are so fully ascribed to our blessed 
Lord, so are all the honours, whether internal or 
external, that are paid to his holy name, which is 
the second spring from whence we receive our 
ideas concerning the Supreme God. Our Lord 
himself says, John v. 22, 2.3, " The Father judgeth 
no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the 
.Son, that all men should honour the Son, even as 
they honour the Father." 

First, All internal honours are paid to him as 
their proper object, as faith, and hope, and love. 
He is the object of faith, John iii. 36. " He that 
believeth on the Son, hath everlasting life, and he 
that believeth not the Son, shall not see life, but the 
wrath of God abideth on him." And in John xiv. 
J; He says of himself, " Ye believe in God, be- 
lieve also in me." He is the object of Christian 
hope: 1 Tim. i. 1. "Jesus Christ, who is our 
hope." And he is the object of Christian love, — ? 
1 Cor. xvi. 22. " If any man love not the Lord Je- 
sus Christ, let him be Anathema, Maranatha." 

Secondly. Outward acts of divine worship and 
adoration are also paid to him as their proper ob- 
ject. Thus we find from Luke xxiv. 52. £ * They 
worshipped him," that is, the apostles and those 
that were with them worshipped the Lord Jesus* 



THE GODHEAD OF CHRIST. 



who had just parted from them, and ascended into 
Heaven. And in Acts vii. 59, we read, " The) 
stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying. 
Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."' St. Paul also 
prays to Christ, in 2 Cor. xii. 8, 9. " For this thing 
I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart 
from me, and he said unto me, my grace is sufficient 
for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness* 
Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my in- 
firmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me." 
And in the second chapter to the Philippians, and 
the ninth verse, we read, " God hath highly exalt? 
ed him, and given him a name which is above every 
name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should 
bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and 
things under the earth/' And accordingly the an- 
gels themselves, and all the hosts of heaven, are 
commanded to worship him. Heb. i. 6. i; When 
he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he 
saith, Let all the angels of God worship him." — 
And in the fifth chapter of the Revelations, and the 
thirteenth verse, we read " Every creature which 
is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, 
and such as are in the sea, and ail that are in them, 
heard I saying, blessing, honour, glory, and power, 
be unto him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the 
Lamb for ever and ever." 

Thirdly. As the incommunicable attributes of 
the Supreme God, and the internal and external hon- 
ours due to his sacred name, are so fully ascribed to 

B 



14 



A SERMON ON 



©ur blessed Saviour in sacred writ, so also are all 
the operations and works of the Most High. As 

First, Creation. John iii. 3. " All things were 
made by him, and without him was not any thing 
made that was made." And Col. i. 14 — 17. " In 
whom" (that is, in God's dear Son, of whom the 
apostle was speaking) " we have redemption 
through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins : 
Who is the image of the invisible God, the first- 
born of every creature." And the reason why he 
is the first-born of every creature, the apostle pro- 
ceeds to give, " For by him were all things crea- 
ted that are in heaven, and that are in the earth, 
whether they be thrones, or dominions, or princi- 
palities, or powers ; all things were created by him 
and for him, and he is before all things, and by him 
all things consist." A most wonderful passage.— 
All things were created by him, as their fountain 
and origin, and for him as their great ultimate end ; 
and he is the self-existent God, before all things ; 
and by him, as their preserver, all things consist. 
And again, Heb. i. 8, 10. Unto the Son he saith, 
thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the founda- 
tion of the earth, and the heavens are the work of 
thine hands." Which words are a quotation out 
of the cii. Psalm, where the person to whom it is ad- 
dressed, is expressly called God. 

Secondly. The preservation of all things is as- 
cribed to him, as in the before quoted passage. 
Col. L 17, M By him all things consist." And 



THE GODHEAD OF CHRIST. 15 



Heb. i. 3. "And upholding all things by the word 
a>{ his power." 

Thirdly. The remission of sins is ascribed to 
him. Matt. ix. 6. " That ye may know,' 5 says 
our Lord to the Scribes, " that the Son of man hath 
power on earth to forgive sins, then saith he to the 
sick of the palsey," &c. And in Luke vii. 43. He 
says to the woman who had washed his feet with 
her tears, " Thy sins are forgiven thee." And 
blessed be God, there are many in this congrega- 
tion, I am persuaded, who can bear a glorious tes- 
timony to this precious truth by their own happy 
experience, and among the rest the feeble worm 
that now addresses you. 

Fourthly. All his miracles were wrought in his 
own name, or by his own immediate power. When 
he cleanses the leper, he says, " I will, be thou 
clean." When he heals the Centurion's servant, he 
says, " Go thy way, and as thou hast believed, so 
be it done unto thee." When he heals Peter's 
wife, he touches her hand, and the fever immedi- 
ately leaves her. To the nobleman of Caperna- 
um, he says, " Go thy way, thy son liveth." To 
the impotent man at the pool of Bethesda, as in ano- 
ther place to the paralytic, " Rise, take up thy bed 
and walk." To the woman diseased with an issue, 
u Daughter, be of good comfort, thy faith hath made 
thee whole." Which expression, or another simi- 
lar to it, " According to thy faith, so be it done un- 
to thee," was a favourite phrase of our Lord's : 
but on whom was this faith to be exercised, except 



m A SERMON Ols 

on himself. To the man with the withered arm, he 
said, " Stretch forth thine hand/ 5 To the woman 
of Canaan, " Be it unto thee even as thou wilt. 15 
To the barren fig-tree, " Let no fruit grow on thee 
henceforth forever." To putrified Lazarus, " Laz- 
arus, come forth." To the devil, " Hold thy 
peace, and come out," or the like words, and they 
immediately obey. To the dead corpse at Nain. 
6S Young man, I say unto thee, arise." He rebukes 
the winds, and says to the sea, " Peace, be still." 
To the deceased daughter of Jairus, he says, 
K Maid, arise." Agreeably to these, he says of 
himself, in John v. 19. " What things soever he" 
(that is, the Father) doth, " these also doth the Son 
likewise." 

Lastly. To him the inspired writers attribute 
the works of grace and regeneration on the souls of 
men equally with the Father. Rom. i. 7. "Grace 
be to you, and peace from God our Father, and 
from the Lord Jesus Christ :" which is the ordina- 
ry salutation of St. Paul, in the beginning of his 
epistles. And in John xv. 5. our Lord declares 
expressly, "Without me ye can do nothing." And 
that blessed Spirit, by whose sacred operations ev- 
ery thing good in the soul of man is wrought, is fre- 
quently styled the Spirit of Christ. 

As the evident consequences of these texts, 
among hundreds of others, which might be produced 
on the various divisions of the argument, are strong 
and effectual for the establishment of the important 
doctrine of Christ's supreme divinity, so the sam§ 



THE GODHEAD OF CHRIST. 



may be proved directly, from those texts where he 
is absolutely called God, or Jehovah, or Lord of 
Hosts ; as also from those texts where such titles 
are adjoined to the word God when applied to our 
blessed Saviour, as do restrain the word to its high- 
est and most proper signification, and do demon- 
strate him to be God by nature, and not only by 
office. 

First. In the Old Testament we read, Isa. vi. 1. 
2,3. " I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and 
lifted up and his train filled the temple. Above it 
stood the seraphims : each one had six wings ; with 
twain he covered his face, and w T ith twain he cov- 
ered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one 
cried unto another, and said, Holy 3 holy holy is the 
Lord of Hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory." 
And in the 5th verse the prophet says again, 
" Mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts." 
That these words were spoken of our blessed Lord, 
is most evident from John xii. 41. where the evan- 
gelist, speaking of our Saviour, and having quoted 
a passage out of that very chapter of Isaiah, imme- 
diately observes, " These things said " Esaia? : 
when he saw his glory, and spake of him." 

2dly. A learned writer of the present age, the 
late Dr. Randolph, head of Corpus Christ i College 
in Oxford, in his answer to the Essay on Spirit, has 
beautifully shewn that in almost every instance 
where the word Jehovah is used in the Old Testa- 
b 2 



13 



A SERMON ON 



ment,* it respects the Messiah. But this would be 
a subject more suitable to a divinity-chair than a 
pulpit. But we must not overlook the remarkable 
declaration of our Lord, recorded in John viii. 58* 
"Jesus said unto them, " verily, verily, I say unto 
you, before Abraham was, I am ascribing to him- 
self the incommunicable name of the self-existent 
God. " Say unto the children of Israel," says 
God to Moses out of the burning bush. " I am hath 
sent thee." We must therefore suppose our Sa- 
viour to have been a greater impostor than Maho- 
met* or allow him to be the supreme God. For 
Mahomet never attributed to himself the name of 
Jehovah or God. And our Lord would have shown 
the greatest cruelty to his followers (if he were not 
the Most High) by trifling with such important 
points, and using such expressions as would natu- 
rally lead his disciples in all generations to adore 
him as the supreme. But to return. 

In the New-Testament, he is in various places 
absolutely called God. As in my text, " The 
word was God:" In John xx. 28. " Thomas saith 
unto him, my Lord, and my God!" In Acts xx. 
28. " Take heed unto yourselves," says St. Paul 
to the elders of the church of Ephesus, " and to all 

* Jehovah is to be found about 4000 times in the Old Testa* 
jnent, though unhappily our translators have substituted the 
comparatively insignificant word, Lord, in its place. Dr. 
Lo-u thy the present Bishop of London, was so sensible of this 
defect, that he uses the original word in every instance 
throughout his beautiful translation of the prophecies of 
t&aialk 



THE GODHEAD OF CHRIST. 19 



the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made 
you overseers, to feed the church of God which he 
hath purchased w T ith his own blood." In Rom. ix. 
5. " Of whom (speaking of the Jews) as concern- 
ing the flesh, Christ came, who is over all God 
blessed for ever." In 1 Tim. iii. 16. " Great 
the mystery of godliness : God was manifested in 
the flesh:" In Heb. i. 8. " Unto the Son he saith, 
thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever." "Which 
words are a quotation out of the xlvth Psalm, which 
all commentators allow r to have been written of the 
Messiah, where the Psalmist says to him, verse 6, 
" Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever." And 
in 1 John iii. 16. " Hereby perceive we the love of 
God, because he laid down his life for us." 

Again. Such titles are adjoined to the word 
God, when applied to our Saviour, as do restrain 
the word to its highest and most proper significa- 
tion, and do demonstrate him to have been God by 
nature, and not only by office. As for instance. 
the true God, 1 John v. 20. " We know r that the 
Son of God is come, and hath given us an under- 
standing, that we may know him that is true, and 
we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus 
Christ: This is the true God and eternal life." — 
The great God. Tit. ii. 13. " Looking for that 
blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the 
great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." The 
mighty God, Isaiah ix. 6. " Unto us a child is born, 
unto us a son is given ; and the government shall 
fce upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called 



29 



A SERMON ON 



Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the ever- 
lasting Father, the Prince of Peace." In a word, 
the fullest titles of divinity are ascribed to him ; as 
the Lord of glory. 1 Cor. ii. 8. " Had they known 
it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glo- 
ry.^ The King of kings, and Lord of lords. — 
Rev. xvii. 14. " The Lamb shall overcome them, 
for he is Lord of lords and King of kings. ^ And 
Rev. xix. 13, 16. c - He whose name is called, the 
Word of God, hath on his vesture and on his 
thigh, a name written, KING of KINGS, and 
LORD of LORDS." And as creation is ascribed 
to him in the fullest sense of the word, so in res- 
pect to the creatures, he is called the everlasting 
Father. 

And now, having such a flood of divine testimo- 
nies for the establishment of the important doc- 
trine of Christ's supreme Godhead, well may we 
confess with St. John, that " the Word was God," 
God, not by office only, but by nature, not figura- 
tively, but properly, not made or created, or (as 
some of the subtle Avians say) derived, but co- 
eternally existing with the Father. Having, I say, 
such a flood of divine evidences for the confirma- 
tion of this important truth, it becomes a necessa- 
ry article of the Christian faith : And whoever dis- 
believes it, calls in question the veracity of God 
or of the Holy Scriptures. Beware then how you 
listen to the subtle adversary of souls, and " deny 
the Lord that bought you," and cast upon your 
Saviour an infinite affront. For there is no medium 



THE GODHEAD OF CHRIST. 



21 



between the creature and the Creator ; and there 
fore to rob him of his Godhead, is the highest insult 
that can be shown him. 

But he will not long be robbed. The day will 
soon arrive, when " every tongue shall confess 
him. and every knee bow down unto him."* — 
When those Avho have in heart or life denied him, 
and persevered in their impenitence, shall feel the 
power of his Godhead to their eternal sorrow. — 
Now, therefore, " kiss the Son lest he be angry, and 
ye parish from the way, when his wrath is kindled 
but a little. "f Now come to him who alone can 
give you life ; for " he that hath the Son, hath 
life, and he that hath not the Son of God, hath not 
iife.' 1 ! 

But whilst this sacred doctrine is filled with ter- 
ror toward the unbelieving and disobedient, it 
affords the sweetest consolation to the truly sincere. 
Thou poor penitent soul, come to this depth of 
comfort, and try it. Consider that he who made 
thee, was thy sacrifice, and is now thine intercessor. 
He has engraven thee on the palms of his hands, § 
and carries thee on his breast-plate before the 
throne. Behold him, behold him ! He stretch- 
es forth his arms unto thee, he longs to espouse 
thee to himself, and to rejoice over thee as the 
bridegroom rejoiceth over his bride."|| Thou 
canst not doubt his power, for he is God supreme, 
and canst thou doubt his love, when he died for thee 



* Phil ii. 10, 11. f Psa - 12 - * 1 Jolm y - 12. 
§ Isa. xlix. 16, 8 Isa. lxii. 5. 



22 A SERMON ON 



on the cross ? Surely, " as a father pitieth his 
children, so Jehovah pitieth them that fear him."* 
fe " Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she 
should not have compassion on the son of her 
womb ? yea, they may forget, yet will not the Lord 
forget thee," Draw near then to the throne of 
grace with full assurance of acceptance : He is 
near that justifies ."t " Say not in thine heart, 
who shall ascend into heaven, (that is, to bring 
Christ down from above) or who shall descend int© 
the deep ? (That is, to bring up Christ again from 
the dead.) For the word is nigh thee, even in thy 
mouth, and in thine heart."J O trust to his faith- 
fulness and love : Suffer him to make thee happy ; 
yield to be saved by grace. Listen to that de- 
lightful music of his voice. " Be of good cheer, 
thy sins are forgiven thee." 

And you who taste his love, O ! I need not tell 
you, that the word was God. You know it, you 
feel it in your inmost souls. Who could have sub- 
dued your stubborn spirits ? Who could have said 
with power to your benighted hearts, " Let there 
be light ?" Who could have overturned the moun- 
tains of unbelief, and sweetly melted your wills, 
and changed your dispositions, and transformed 
your souls into the glorious image of God, but the 
mighty God himself — mighty to save,§ Christ in us, 
the hope of glory !\\ And is this all ? O ! no, thou 
highly favoured, his will is thy sanctification.il— 

* Psa. ciii. 13. f Isa. 1. 8. + Rom. x. 6, 7. 
§ Isa, Ixiii. 1. Col. i. 27. I Thess, iv. 3, 



THE GODHEAD OF CHRIST. 23 



®nly enter into closer union with him, cleave to 
his bleeding side, and he will lead thee beside the 
still waters of comfort, and feed thee in his green 
pastures. He will guide thee through the valley of 
the shadow of death. He will love thee with an 
everlasting love, and thou shalt dwell in the house 
of the Lord forever.* " He will circumcise thine 
heart, that thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with 
all thine heart. He will sprinkle clean water upon 
thee, and thou shalt be clean, from all thy filthiness 
and from all thine idols will he cleanse thee. He 
will be faithful to cleanse thee from all unrighteous- 
ness ; yea, thou shalt sweetly and experimentally 
know for thine own self, that the blood of Jesus 
Christ cleanseth from all sinA Thou shalt be one 
with him, and he will be one with thee ; thou shalt 
dwell in him, and he will dwell in thee ; thine heart 
shall be his constant home. He will enable thee to 
comprehend with all the saints, the length, and 
breadth, and heighth, and depth of his love which 
passeth knowledge, and he will fill thee with all the 
fulness of God.^J 

The consideration of this single truth, That my 
friend and well-beloved is the God of heaven and 
earth, that nothing can happen without his permis- 
sion, and that all things shall work together for 
good to them that love him, is sufficient to support 
the Christian's soul under every trial in human 
life. That the human nature should be filled with 



* Psa. xxiii. Jer. xxxi. f Deut. xxx. 6. Ezek. xxxvi. 25, 
1 John i. 9, 7. * Ephes. iii. 18, 19. 



24 A SERMON, &c. 



all the fulness of Jehovah, and sit on the throne of 
God. — O ! how does it awaken every spark of ho- 
ly ambition, and open to us the most amazing views 
of the glory of the saints in heaven. Ye simple 
followers of the Lamb, bear up a little longer, and 
" he that shall come, will come, and will not tar- 
i-y."* Your light afflictions here are not to be com* 
pared to that exceeding and eternal weight of glory. 
For he will make you drink of those rivers of plea- 
sures,"! which eternally flow at his right hand, and 
feat you on his own throne, for ever and ever.! 



* Heb. x. 37. t Psa. xxxv'h 8, ± Rev ill. %i 




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